Switzerland to Freeze Russian Accounts on Regulated Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The Swiss Ministry of Finance announced this Friday that it will block the funds of Russian individuals and entities on regulated exchanges in that country. The information was disclosed in a report by the American media Financial Times.

According to the report, the decision was made by the Swiss Federal Council, as a disposition of its own which will be added to those already applied within the framework of the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) on Russia for its war in Ukraine.

It should be noted that, although Switzerland is not a member country of the EU and has historically maintained a strict political stance of perpetual neutrality, last week the Swiss nation stated its intention to match the economic sanctions package imposed by Brussels on Moscow.

Finance Minister Guy Parmelin said that Switzerland implemented this Friday, March 4, the four packages of sanctions from the European bloc. It was also known that since last Monday, bank accounts and assets located in Switzerland were frozen, belonging 223 Russian citizens.

Comments attributed to “a senior official in the Ministry of Finance” indicate that it would be essential for Switzerland to extend economic sanctions on Russia towards trading crypto assetsas his country wants to “protect the integrity” of its cryptocurrency industry.

The spokesman acknowledged that it will not be possible lock funds held in self-custodial wallets. “If someone has your cryptographic key, wherever it is, it will be practically impossible to identify it. But if they are using crypto services (funds, centralized exchanges, etc.), we can target these service points,” the official explained.

Switzerland stood out since 2016 as a favorable country to develop projects based on cryptocurrencies. Even the canton of Zug, called “crypto valley”, was one of the first regions to incorporate tax payments with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Just the same Friday, it was learned that the Swiss city of Lugano, wants to become a kind of “Bitcoin City» European.

However, the Alpine nation has also adhered to the regulations designed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the cryptocurrency industry. Said regulation includes highly questioned guidelines, such as the obligation to share private information of users, between regulated exchanges, with the government, and even with the governments of other countries.